Nearly anyone can take one look atPokemon’sfamous electric mouse and tell you it’s Pikachu. Even your grandparents, who don’t even know how to use a phone, will likely be able to tell you who Pikachu is even when not wearing their glasses or while looking at Pawmi.
Surprisingly, Pikachu has had a ton of design variations and appeared in countless different art styles over the decades and The Pokemon Company have never been afraid to slap their mascot’s face on whatever and wherever they can. Being the world’s biggest multimedia series' icon, Pikachu has a very, very long history.
The Beginning Of An Icon
Pikachu’s Core Appearances Throughout Generation One
Pokemon Red & Green (JP, 1996) / Red & Blue (US, 1998)
Pokemon Yellow (JP, 1998 / US, 1999)
Pokemon Stadium (JP, 1998)
Pokemon Snap (1999)
Pokemon TCG Original era (JP, 1996 / US, 1999 to 2000)
Pokemon Indigo League anime (JP, 1997 / US, 1998)
Pokémon Pocket Monsters Manga/ Pokemon Adventures manga (JP, 1996)
Super Smash Bros. (1999)
Pokemon has come a long way from its origins, and Pikachu is evidence of that. In Generation One, the series was still getting its footing, and the Generation One sprites of Pikachu highlight that. With the Red/Blue/Green sprite, Pikachu is starkly different from any of its other designs, with tipped hands, a squishier round body with a belly patch, and a longer, slimmer tail like Raichu has.
With Pokemon exploding in popularity, there was a ton of media created, and the anime put Pikachu right into the spotlight. The Pokemon anime tweaked Pikachu’s design, which would later be adapted into a sprite for Yellow Version. An absolutely obscene number of Pokemon products were made during this Generation, and Pikachu was changing left, right, and center to find a design that would last for decades.
Pokemon Gold & Silver (JP, 1999/ US, 2000)
Pokemon Crystal (JP, 2000 / US, 2001)
Pokemon Stadium 2 (JP, 2000/ US, 2001)
Pokemon TCG Neo era (1999 – 2003)
Pokemon: The Johto Journeys anime (JP, 1999 / US, 2000)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001)
Topps Pokemon T.V. Chrome Cards (2000)
Going into Generation Two, The Pokemon Company introduced a new baby form for Pikachu in the form of Pichu, and, along with this, Pikachu’s design had to stop changing so frequently, since it had quickly become the mascot for the series. The anime once again helped shape Pikachu’s image by making it less soft and round, and these were changes that would sadly stick around.
While the anime had seemingly finally settled on a Pikachu design with a slimmer, more shaped body, other media continued to change the design frequently. For example, Pikachu’s appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee was a mix of Generation One’s rounder design and elements of the now finalized design. This was also true for many figures and plushies from the time, and who can’t say no to a chubby, fluffy Pikachu plush?
From Generation Three onwards, Pikachu in the anime and manga had the same design and style consistently in almost every iteration, aside from some smaller spin-offs.
Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire (JP, 2002/ US, 2003)
Pokemon Emerald (JP, 2004/ US, 2005)
Pokemon TCG EX era (2003 – 2007)
Pokemon Ranger (2006)
Pokemon: Advanced anime (2002)
Evolving the series to the GBA meant every Pokemon now had much more room for their designs to breathe, and with Pikachu it had never looked better. With the cleanpixel art styleof Generation Three’s mainline games, even to this day, Pikachu’s sprite is one of its best. From the adorable, playful pose it’s in to how the colors pop out of the dimly lit screen, this art style is timeless.
Generation Three had a ton of spin-off titles, such as the gritty Colosseum games. This Generation also marked the debut of the Mystery Dungeon series, and these games put Pikachu in an adorable sprite style that had some incredible reaction portraits of Pikachu feeling a range of emotions. Pikachu’s face also started appearing more on strange product collaborations such as the 2000s classic Mighty Beanz, and some of these are very cursed.
Pokemon Platinum (2008)
Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver (JP, 2009/ US, 2010)
Pokemon TCG Diamond & Pearl Era to HeartGold & SoulSiver era (2007 to 2011)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008)
Pokepark Wii: Pikachu’s Adventure (2010)
With each hardware jump, the mainline Pokemon games got prettier and prettier with more powerful hardware able to display bigger and better sprites. Pikachu once again looks amazing in all of its main appearances and now even has a visible gender difference with a heart-shaped tail on female ones.
On consoles, there is one game that really mixed up Pikachu’s visual style, and that was Pokemon Rumble. This title had toy-like models that were very sharp and abstract, making them very distinct. In the TCG, this Generation The Pokemon Company decided to start pumping Pikachu cards out. Before, Pikachu would already get plenty of cards, but now, with even more artists, the electricity started flowing, with nearly every set having aPikachu card.
Pokemon TCG Black & White era (2011 to 2013)
Pokemon Rumble Blast (2011)
Pokepark 2: Wonders Beyond (2012)
Generation Five was a strange time as, while the rest of the series pushed 3D models, the main game entries stayed dedicated to their sprite-based Pokemon. This resulted, however, in some of the most detailed yet with fully animated battle spirits that look incredible, and many fans wish Pokemon games still used the Black & White sprites.
An interesting title to come from this Generation was Pokemon Conquest, a crossover title between the Nobunaga’s Ambition series and Pokemon. With this came a beautiful sprite-based art style. The Conquest art style is one of the best pixel art styles Pikachu has been in, with a 3D-2D hybrid style that makes the most of the limiting DS hardware and even brings back the classic chunkier proportions.
Pokemon TCG X & Y era (2013 to 2016)
Super Mystery Dungeon (2015)
Super Mario Maker (2015)
Generation Six was a monumental Generation for the series as it featured the first mainline games to use 3D models for the Pokemon instead of sprites. Many fans to this day still look back on the sprites with them having more life despite being flatter, but the added depth of 3D models has helped the Pokemon themselves and thegames evolve.
Pikachu had many 3D outings in this Generation, and with X & Y, the 3D Pikachu model we all know and adore was cemented into the series as its main art style going forward. The spin-off crossover withTekken,Pokken Tournament,saw Pikachu take on a slightly more mature design with a more battle-ready design and details powered by the Wii U’s potato hardware.
Pokemon Shuffle Mobile (2016)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018)
Generation Six featured the renaissance of Generation One nostalgia, withPokemon GOlighting the fire of a revival of Poke-Mania. This was followed by a boom in Pikachu’s face being slapped onto as many big products as brands as The Pokemon Company could. Furthermore, there were countless spin-offs and mainline titles that put a strong spotlight on Pikachu, giving many new visual styles to our favorite electric mouse.
The most unique art style Pikachu has ever seen is in the live-action Pokemon: Detective Pikachu movie that was released right at the end of this Generation. This movie took all the beloved, cute creatures we know and love and turned them all into realistic nightmares, but in Pikachu’s case, it retains its adorableness and gains even more with the addition of big hamster-like eyes and a fluffy fur coat.
Pokemon UNITE (2021)
Pokemon Smile (2020)
Pokemon Sword & Shieldstirred up a big controversy in the community, but them from having one of the best styles we have seen Pikachu in. Sword & Shield have a cell-shaded anime visual style that makes the Pokemon models look straight out of the anime, and this worked phenomenally to make Pikachu look great. In these titles, Pikachu even got a special Gigantamax form, which looks almost identical to the classic chubby design.
The mobile spin-offs in this era were some of the most adorable we have ever seen, with both Pokemon Smile andPokemon Cafe ReMix.Pokemon Smile has soft pastel artwork of Pikachu all over in one of its cutest “chibi”-styled designs, but Cafe ReMix is strong competition for that title with its precious large-head, small-body Pikachu in a barista uniform that looks deliciously sweet.
LEGO Pokemon (2026)
Pokemon Concierge (2023)
WhenPokemon Scarlet & Violetrolled around, the series shifted its main art direction, this time going for a more realistic textured approach. With this, Pikachu finally had actual eyes rather than stickers on its model, looking more detailed than ever before in the main games. For those who wanted a softer style for Pikachu,Pokemon Sleepdelivered with a soft pastel hand-drawn style model that looks as cozy as a pillow.
Outside the games, we also got a fresh start for the anime featuring an entirely unique cast of characters, of course, including a Pikachu, as well as a stop-motion show made by Netflix, Pokemon Concierge, with an adorably fuzzy Pikachu. The TCG had one of its best eras withScarlet & Violet, introducing many gorgeous cards that featured Pikachu in some brilliantly creative styles, including a felt hat-wearing card that mimics Van Gogh’s style.
